Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Biography of Johan Dilner, articles on psalmodikon in Swedish and English

Original, in Swedish, at http://medlem.spray.se/psalmbok/Biografier/Dillner_J.htm. Link here for the Google translation. Excerpt:
John was the son of Pastor Erik Johan Dillner in Selangor.
Dillner läste teologi vid Uppsala universitet, doktorerade och prästvigdes 1809, och förordnades samma år till adjunkt vid Finska församlingen i Stockholm. Dillner studied theology at Uppsala University, a PhD and was ordained in 1809, and ordained the same year the lecturer at the Finnish Church in Stockholm. 1810 utnämndes han till eo hovpredikant och blev 1814 regementspastor vid Jämtlands regemente under fälttåget mot Norge. 1810 he was appointed court preacher and became eo 1814 regimental pastes in Jämtland regiment during the campaign against Norway. Som kyrkoherde tjänstgjorde han i Östra Ryd församling från 1820, i Fundbo fg från 1831 och slutligen i Östervåla fg från 1839, alla i Uppland. As a pastor, he served in East Ryd parish from 1820, in Fundbo fg from 1831 and finally in Östervåla fg from 1839, all in Upland. Från 1842 var han vice kontraktsprost. From 1842 he was deputy kontraktsprost. 1860 utnämndes han till jubeldoktor vid Uppsala universitet. 1860 he was appointed Jubilee PhD at Uppsala University.
Dillner var gift med Johanna Lovisa Lidström . Dillner was married to Johanna Louisa Lidstrom.
Linked to the bio is an article on the psalmodikon, translated as follows:
A simple musical instrument consisting of a ring box (often a simple, rectangular wooden box), a string and a fret board with tape (bumps). Det spelas med knäppning, plektrum eller stråke. It is played with buttons, plectrum or bow. Det anses uppfunnet av kyrkoherden Johan Dillner i Östervåla 1829 men bygger på den mycket gamla instrumenttypen monokord , en enkel resonanslåda med en sträng som kan förkortas med ett rörligt stall. It is invented by Pastor John Dillner Östervåla in 1829 but based on the ancient instrument type monokord, a simple sounding board with a string that can be shortened by a movable bridge. Dillner försåg sitt instrument med ett fast stall, som håller upp strängen från lådan, och en greppbräda med band , en trälist med utskärningar så att åsar bildas vilka bestämmer strängens fria längd när man trycker den mot en ås. Dillner provided his instrument with a fixed bridge, which keeps the string from the box, and a fretboard with tape, a strip of wood with cutouts so that the ridges are formed which determines the string free length when pressed it against a ridge. Det fanns 32 band med en halvton mellan. There were 32 bands with a semitone between. (jfr gitarrens greppbräda) och varje band är märkt med ett nummer. (Cf. guitar fretboard) and each band is marked with a number.

Användning Use
Dillners avsikt med lanseringen av instrumentet var att förbättra psalmsången genom att kunna beledsaga sången med ett instrument som alla församlingar kunde ha råd att införskaffa - orglar var ju ofta alltför dyra. Dillner's intention with the launch of the instrument was to improve hymn singing by being able to accompany the song with an instrument that all churches could afford to purchase - organs was often too expensive.
Dillner reste runt i Sverige för att demonstrera instrumentet och gav 1830 ut skriften Melodierna till svenska kyrkans psalmer där psalmerna i 1819 års psalmbok försetts med en enkel siffernotering till ledning för hur melodin skulle spelas på hans psalmodikon - helt enkelt numret på det band i greppbrädan som åstadkommer rätt ton. Dillner traveled around Sweden to demonstrate the instrument and gave 1830 the signature melodies to the Swedish church hymns in which the hymns of 1819 years of prayer book provided with a simple numerical listing for the guidance of the melody was played on his psalmodikon - simply the number of the bands in the fretboard that achieves the right tone. Dillner lär ha sagt att han kunde lära en person utan musikalisk förkunskap att spela psalmodikon på ett par timmar. Dillner reported to have said that he could teach a person without musical prerequisites to play psalmodikon in a few hours.

Instrumentet blev mycket populärt under 1800-talets mitt, både i mindre församlingar och bland kringresande väckelsepredikanter. The instrument became very popular during the mid-1800s, both in smaller congregations and among itinerant revivalists. Ett stort antal koralböcker publicerades med musiken noterade i sifferskrift, anpassade för utförande på psalmodikon. A large number of choral books were published with the music listed in numerical script, adapted for execution on psalmodikon. Flera utgåvor omfattar hela 1820 års koralbok i siffernotering. Several editions covering the entire 1820 year koralbok in the numerical listing.
Several books and manuscripts are listed, published mostly in Stockholm and Gefle between 1830 and 1848 ...

Also a link to Sven H. Gullman: psalmodikon was musikintrumentet in many churches and schools , article in Lysekil Post, 2002

Link here for Google translation ... Psalmodikon was musikintrumentet in many churches and schools
Infört under juli 2002 i Lysekilsposten och Stenungsunds-Posten med Orust-Tjörn/Introduced in July 2002 in Lysekil Post and Stenungsunds-Posten with Orust-Tjörn
Dean Dillner knew of a simple close instrument that was cheap to buy and that would fit both in church and school. Han kallade det psalmodikon. He called it psalmodikon. Det var som instrument en förbättring av monokorden (av grek monos, ensam, och chorde, sträng). It was as instruments improving monokorden (from the Greek monos, alone, and chords, string). Detta bestod av en resonanslåda och på den spänd en tarmsträng, som genom ett flyttbart stall bestämde tonhöjden. This consisted of a sounding board and on the tense a gut string, which through a mobile team decided the pitch. Monokorden, ett slags cittra, hade introducerats i Köpenhamn 1823 i syfte att förbättra sången i skolorna. Monokorden, a kind of zither, was introduced in Copenhagen in 1823 in order to improve the singing in schools. Men instrumentet blev snart populärt också i kyrkliga kretsar. But the instrument soon became popular also in ecclesiastical circles. Dillner tog upp idén som snabbt slog igenom i Sverige. Dillner took up the idea that quickly became popular in Sweden. Med små förändringar kallades instrumentet psalmodikon, ett ord som i dagligt tal också ofta ersattes med notstock, notlåda eller psalmlåda. With small changes called instrument psalmodikon, a word in everyday speech often replaced with notstock, cowhide or hymn box. Det var fortfarande en rektangulär låda som spelades med stråke. It was still a rectangular box that was played with a bow. Strängen kunde vara av metall eller gjord av en tarm. The string could be metallic or made ​​of a gut. Som greppbräda tjänade en smal trälist, fastlimmad på lockets mitt. As fretboard earned a narrow strip of wood, glued to the lid in the middle. Den indelades i ca 30 halvtonsteg genom trappstegsformade nedskärningar. It was divided into about 30 halvtonsteg through step-cuts. Dessa var numrerade med siffror. These were numbered with numbers. ...
Also this, on the music:
From about 1870 began psalmodikon gradually being replaced by the harmonium, but came to be used at a few places for our time. Det finns säkert äldre läsare av denna tidning som själva minns att det användes i skolan. There are certainly older readers of this magazine itself remembers that it was used in the school. Men finns det belägg för att det kom att brukas vid gudstjänster i kyrkan? But there is evidence that it came to be used during services at church? Trots allt var det ett stränginstrument och vi förknippar kyrkorummet med orgelmusik. After all, it was a stringed instrument, and we associate the church with organ music.

Jodå. Oh yes. Johan Dillner skriver själv: John Dillner writes:

" I kyrkan bör sången gå något långsammare, i skolan eller hemma något mindre långsamt." "The church should be the song to go slightly slower, at school or at home slightly less slow."

Han utvecklar det vidare: He develops this further:

"Psalmernas tempo är ej lika för alla. Melodiens eget sinne bestämmer rörelsen. Vissa lofsånger äro eldiga och begära en hastig gång. Andra fordra en stillare rörelse. Begrafningspsalmer fordra vanligen en fördröjd och långsam gång." "Hymns tempo is not the same for everyone. Melodies own mind determines the movement. Some praises are fiery and ask for a fleeting time. Others require a quieter movement. Begrafningspsalmer usually require a delayed and slow time."

Enligt Dillner fick ett psalmodikon en allt behagligare ton, ju längre och mer det nyttjades, och lät, när det var uppspelat, som en god altfiol. According to Dillner got a psalmodikon an ever more pleasing tone, the longer and more the use, and sounded, when there was a break out, like a good viola. Konsten att spela instrumentet var enligt honom lätt och snart lärt. The art of playing the instrument was, according to him easily and quickly learned. På mindre än en halvtimme garanterade han att alla skulle kunna spela vilken psalm som helst. In less than half an hour he guaranteed that everyone could play the hymn at any time. Varför inte låta detta instrument få en ny renässans! Why not let the instrument get a new renaissance! Men tillverkas det i den ursprungliga utförandet? But it made ​​in the original design?

Följande fyra psalmverser ur hans bok är hämtat från 1819 års psalmbok men fortfarande välkända för många. Four hymns from his book is taken from 1819 year book of hymns, but still familiar to many. Siffrorna framför varje ord har sin motsvarighet i instrumentets trälist, där varje skåra har motsvarande nummer. The numbers above each word has its counterpart in the instrument's wooden strip, where each slot has a corresponding number.
It is followed by four hymns in sifferskrift, Nos. 204 and 74 (with parts of 205 and 75 at the bottom of the respective pages).

Separate link to article "Psalmodikon var musikintrumentet i många kyrkor och skolor
Infört under juli 2002 i Lysekilsposten och Stenungsunds-Posten med Orust-Tjörn" at
http://svenhgullman.nu/oevrigt/psalmodikon1.htm

Music Encyclopedia article by Philip Bate at http://www.operas.com.ar/Music-Encyclopedia/67304/Psalmodikon.htm has this:
In its earliest form the psalmodikon consisted of a flat, rather shallow soundbox, in plan a tall trapezium (or occasionally a rectangle), with a single (bowed) string of gut supported by a nut at each end and passing over a bridge. Beneath and parallel to this string was a strip or ‘rule’ of wood transversely ridged to form frets, with the stopping positions marked by letters (see illustration). Thus the player could follow a printed cue-sheet instead of formal music notation. There were also a number of wire drone strings which passed over sections of the bridge that were cut lower so as not to impede free bowing. In some early instruments further clearance was provided by cutting the soundboard away in a concave ‘bout’ on the near side of the bridge. Additionally the more sophisticated examples were provided with several alternative rules differently marked so that the instrument could be played in several keys.

The presence of a bowed string associated with a fretted and lettered fingerboard recalls John Playford´s 17th-century Psalterer (though there is no evidence that either Dillner or Roverud had any knowledge of Playford’s work). Both instruments were designed expressly to support choral singing in lieu of an organ or other skilled instrumental accompaniment.

Psalmodikon. The psalmodikon enjoyed great popularity in Norwegian and particularly Swedish schools until about 1860; it was also used by Scandinavian immigrants, for instance in the USA, where it is reported until about 1900. It appeared in a number of different versions, some with as many as four bowed strings, and with a variable number of drones. Such instruments were professionally made, but certain museum collections have examples of rustic copies of varying sophistication. Probably the most singular of these is one colloquially called notstok, in which the body was boat-shaped (sometimes not even hollowed out) while the fingerboard resembled a long handle passing through it. A keyed psalmodikon was also known at one time: all forms of the instrument, however, except perhaps the rural ones, seem to have gone out of use with the introduction of the harmonium in Scandinavian schools.

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